Ladder-support



E. N. TAYLOR.

LADDER SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.16,1920.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT- omca.

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application filed January 18, 1920. Serial No. 851,982.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, EDWIN N. Tar non, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Cemake' and use the same.

Thisinvention relates to attachments for ladders, in the nature of a plrojecting bracket or foot, and the obgect of. t is invention is to produce a simp e device adapted.

to hold the ladder outwardly at the upper end; to serve as a support for a foot-board, or to act as legs to support the lower end of the ladder, either in an upright or a" racticallyhorizontal position on an inc ined' surface, as a roof, or the like.

' The invention is fully disclosed in the de-' scription and claims following, reference being lfiad to the accompanying drawing, in whic z- Figure -1 is a view in perspective of my improved ladder-support as applied to a ladder. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same inverted, one of the leg-extensions bein removed. I

n the drawing, the numeral 5 denotes a ladder, provided with the usual round rungs 6. The principal part of the ladder-support is "a stirrup-like strut 7 ,formed of steel bar material, the ends of the legs being preferably, but not necessarily pointed, as shown. To the cross-member 8 is secured, as by rivets 9, a stirru 10, which gives space betweenits free si e and the opposite part of the ladder-sup ort, to receive one of the ladder rungs. simple latch 11, which may be merely a bent wire with its shank pivoted in a fold of the stirrup 10, serves to hold the support from displacement.

For some purposes this structure is sufiicient. It is especially convenient and useful in such operations as house-paintin when the operator uses only a single la der. In this case. the upper end of the ladder rests against the si e of the building,

and it is. of.course impossible to paint the surface against which the ladder rests, and this necessitates going down and shifting the position of the ladder. Butvby means Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented flag 18 1921.

ofthis support the upper end of the ladder maybe removed from the surface: to be painted, the operator with one hand pushmg against the building, and with the other grasping thestirrlip part of the'sup ort,

pull ng outwardly on the ladder, an adust'ing the legs of the support to the desired osition. The stirrup part thus serves as a older for the support, and. as a convenient means for turning'it on the ladder rung. After painting close to the legs, the operator has only to turn the legs up or as the case may be, to bear on the down, pa nted portion, making it thus possible topaint the entire surface without shifting the foot of the ladder.

'PI'QVlSlOIl is made, however, for using the sugport for other purposes. In Fig. 1 the la der is shown projecting above the caves of a house outside the rain trou h. It is of course detrimental to lean the la der against such a trough, but to give access to the roof the upper end of the ladder should extend above the cornice.- The holder in this case is used to hold the upper end of the ladder away from the eaves, which it does in the manner already described in connection withpaintin The holder is best provided,

however, wit extensions 12, slidable on its legs, so as to allow for adjustment in the length of the legs as circumstances may require. By means of holes 13 in the connected parts, they may be fastened at an desired lace by an engaging art, whic is here s own as a hook 14 at t 0 end of a chain 15. One of these is attached to each leg of the support, and by diverging. them as shown the holder is securely anchored in any desired position, by passing the chain around adjoming'rungs and hooking the free ends of the chain to the links of the chain, as indicated.

In Fi 2, which shows the deviceinverted, t e suspending chain is shown attached near the outer end of one of the legs. This permits a lank to be slipped between the chainand adder, and thus, by the use of a pair of ladders, a sta g may be easily and conveniently erected or aintin or other work at the side of a bur ding.

It will be evident that by securing the support to the bottom rung of a ladder, and nearl vertical, the pointed legs, will serve in wliole or in part to support the ladder when erected on an inclined surface, as on the roof of a porch or lean-to. and thus prevent any possible slipping of the foot of\the ladder. \Vhen set at substantially the angle shown in Fig. 1, but attached to a rung near the end of the ladder, the latter may be laid down on a roof of moderate pitch, and the leg on the lower part of the roof will support the ladder approximately level, to support a footboard, or the like, in that position.

In Fig. 1 is shown an auxiliary brace 16, which may be used with or without the chains. It is intended to merely carry the weight of the support, and prevents it from dropping when a supporting chaln 1s loosened, or entirely detached. This brace is provided with 'a simple hook 17 tendlng to pinch the side of the ladder, and thus hold the support in position. It serves to hold the support in the position shown in Fig. 1, when no board or other extra weight is applied, and also to hold the support parallel with the sides of the ladder so that in an extension ladder the parts may slide freely without the support interfering in any way.

adapted to rest agalnst a building and hold' the ladder out therefrom, and a transversely disposed, elongated stirrup attached to the cross-bar of the bracket, and adapted to hold the bracket on a rung of the ladder, and to be grasped by a hand and used as a handle in turning the bracket on the rung.

2. A ladder support, comprising a stirrup-shaped bracket, a transversely disposed, elongated stirrup attached to the cross-bar of the bracket to engage a rung of the ladder, and means for locking the rung-engagmg stirrup 1n pos1t1on, said rung engaging stlrrup belng adapted to be grasped as a handle by the hand in turning the bracket on said rung.

In testlmony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

EDWIN N. TAYLOR.

Witnesses R. D. BROWN, J. M. ST. JOHN. 

